Petition for the attention of Mr Jean - Pierre Bel, President of the Senate and Mr. Claude Bartolone , President of the National Assembly of France: "We, the citizens of France and cat owners ask you to modify the legislation so that a mayor no longer has the right to be able to catch cats on private property without the consent of the owner of the cats, without prior notice and without a court order."

Why this petition?

Last summer ( 2013 ) a mayor in a small village in the west of France, together with the City Council took the following decision ( arrêté ). On 14th June (2013) traps were to be placed in the garden of an octogenarian couple who had about 30 cats, which some neighbours claimed were a nuisance. Once captured, identified cats would be taken to a pound about 40 kilometers from the residence of the couple. The owners would be able to claim back the cat after paying the usual pound costs. The unidentified cats (and most were ) would be euthanised on the spot by a vet.

The decision was put in all the neighbours' mailboxes to ensure that they were informed and could keep their cats inside. The couple was not informed of this decision and only got a visit from the mayor. The couple feared the worst but the mayor reassured them and told them that all the cats would be brought to the pound. The mayor did not mention, of course, that some would be put to sleep .

Quite by chance we heard about this plan and fortunately, along with several other associations, we were able to convince the mayor that there was another solution to this problem. The couple were eventually allowed to keep five cats. The rest have been safely rehomed.

Problem solved you might think . So why this petition ? Because we had doubts about the legality of this measure, we have asked several authorities (regional and national) to explain the legal basis of the ability of a mayor to take such a measure. Even after numerous phone calls and many letters neither the Prefect nor the ministry have given a straight answer.http://www.nosamislesanimaux.com/arrêté-capture-des-chats-sur-propriété-privée.phpHowever some lawyers from other associations in France have said that it is legal and the mayor does have this power. We find it unacceptable that a mayor can decide to trap your cats on his own initiative without any oversight. We therefore ask the President of the First and Second Chamber in France with this petition to modify the laws so that the mayor no longer has this power.